Category Blog

All Blog Posts

All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.

Podcast #296 – Dr. Zeev N. Kain on Lean and Clinical Variation

Joining me for Episode #296 of the podcast is Zeev N. Kain, MD. MBA, FAAP. He is a physician and a Chancellor's Professor at the University of California, Irvine.

He has many additional roles and titles, including:

Director, System Redesign & Value Based Care for the UC-Irvine Health Policy Research Institute
Executive Director of the UCI-Yale Center on Stress & Health
President of the American College of Perioperative Medicine

Dr. Kain is "recognized as an international expert in the clinical management of perioperative fear and anxiety, and management of children undergoing invasive medical procedures. His research addresses major dilemmas encountered in the management of affected children."

He's also an advocate for Lean and Six Sigma and the connections to reducing "clinical variation" in healthcare. So, that's what we're talking about today.

Two Data Points Don’t Make a Trend: Why Headlines Mislead Us

Gun pointed downward, hidden behind a tape measure, with a large grey downward arrow overlay.

When looking at data, whether it's the number of homicides in San Antonio or some of our workplace metrics, it's tempting to overreact to a "headline" that says a measure went down in 2017 compared to 2016. But do two data points really help us understand what the real trend is? This blog post explores an approach we can use to make better decisions about our data.

Lean Healthcare Innovation at Atrius Health: Building a “Care in Place” Model

My guests for Episode #295 are Sarah Steinberg of Atrius Health and Ted Toussaint, a healthcare innovation strategist, formerly of Atrius Health. Ted is also a faculty member for Catalysis. 

Today, we're talking about some innovative work that they led at Atrius, using a variety of modern product development and innovation methods, including Lean, Lean Startup, Design Thinking, and more to create a new "Care in Place" model for home-based patient care that helps reduce trips to a clinic or hospital. Their work was featured in this HBR article: "How Atrius Health Is Making the Shift from Volume to Value."

Time for a Holiday Break, Relaxation, and Reflection – and “Gemba Claus”

I hope it's been a great year for you, personally and professionally. It's a time to relax, celebrate, be appreciative, and reflect. "Lean thinkers" like to reflect as part of our normal practice and our improvement work. The end of year is a good time to reflect on the year and to think about the year ahead.

As I share each year...

It's an annual tradition, dating back to 2009... my annual posting of the parody song "Gemba Claus is Comin' to Town."

Listen here:

Podcast #294 – Clay Linkous, Studer Group Principles & #Lean

Joining me for episode #294 is Clay Linkous, an account leader and speaker with Studer Group. He is an accomplished cultural transformation and leadership expert who has synthesized Lean and other improvement methods with Studer Group principles and practices.

Today, we'll talk about Clay's career and his purpose and motivations - both for working in healthcare and improving healthcare. We're both firm believers in the combination of Studer and Lean practices, so we're also discussing that as our main topic.

I hope you enjoy the discussion!

Throwback Thursday: A Look Back at Japan #Lean Healthcare Study Trips

For today's Throwback Thursday, I'd like to look back at some blog posts about the trips I took to Japan in 2012 and 2014 to study Lean healthcare and Kaizen with healthcare practitioners from around the world.

I'm again partnering with Kaizen Institute to plan and help lead a trip that will be held in the last week of February, as I wrote about here...

Trending now

Retro cassette tape with unspooled brown magnetic tape winding across a table past three map location pins, a coffee cup, and a map
Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: September 25, 2026
Illustration of a worker inspecting a cracked gear with a magnifying glass on a workbench in a factory, with a cassette tape and tool cart nearby
Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: October 23, 2026
Joel Tosi and Elisabeth Hendrickson stand against a light blue radial background, one holding a megaphone and the other presenting on a podium
Signals & Levers: Elisabeth Hendrickson and Joel Tosi on Change Theater, Open Loops, and Systems Thinking for Software Teams
Man in light blue shirt standing indoors next to icons indicating conditions for speaking up, safe, and worthwhile.
Why People Stay Silent at Work: My New Psychological Safety Course